Lawnmower Blenny, Is it Reef Safe?

[howman1]

just picked up a lawnmower blenny from my LFS (he called it an algae blenny), will this guy eat my polyps, soft coral, mushrooms, etc.???????

 

[2poor2reef]

Not in my experience. I have heard that they can sometimes harass clams, but mine doesn't do that either. Remember, the time to ask these types of questions is before you acquire the animal, not afterwards. Do you know how to take care of this guy? Many folks have had this species starve after it depletes the microalgae in their tanks. Mine eats prepared foods but some never do.

 

[Anonymous]

I have had mine for about 7 months now in my reef and he is doing awesome. He eats the algaes that accumulate on the rock and glass and doesn't bother the softs or the mushrooms that I have. When the algaes get a bit depleted I will often find him nibbling the tangs seaweed selects or formula 2. Actually I would venture to say that he loves the formula 2. He leaves his lip print on the glass that is really amusing. He is by far the toughest fish I have ever come accross. I actually got mine as a hitch hiker on a piece of LR that was out of water for about 10 min on the drive home from the LFS. I plopped the rock into the tank(not litterally) and he shot out. Scared the holy begezus out of me. Thought it was a world record mantis at first. Any way I would have to agree with the above post that purchasing then asking is kinda backwards. Unless you were like me, in which case, it was a welcome surprise. Good luck.


RLTW

 

[jreef1]

Will he at macroalgae too, ie feather caulurpa sp. etc? Or just nuisance algae?

 

[Shelby1317]

My lawnmore blenny is so fat from eating algae, seaweed, Ive never caught mine eating macroalgae, my mushrooms, hard corals, soft corals, are fine. By the way he has such a big belly that when he sits on the rock he has to sit side ways.

 

[Larry Grenier]

I have several different types of macros. When I first introduced my algae aka lawnmower aka sailfin he was fat-n-happy. Mine seems to have depleted his favorites and won't touch the other and is getting skinny. He has begun accepting Formula 2 so I hope he fattens-up. Just sharing my experience.

 

[amcarrig]

Mine behaves the same as Larry's. It eats only the film algae and I have yet to see it eat prepared food including spirulina, seaweed selects, all the Formula foods. Next try is nori. If that fails, I'm at a loss. I don't believe that they eat calupera, though.

 

[AuroraDave]

I've only had mine for about 6 months, but he is a fat-@$$ now and starting to show a lot of color--yellows & orange- on his tail. I have never seen him bother any of my corals, clams, or even the macro.
He seems to be more of a grazer and is Constantly moving. So the biggest negative is that he knocks anything over that isnt attached.
As usual, many visitors find the cheapest fish to be the most interesting or "favorite." He was one of the best additions to my reef.

 

[pwlong]

Hello, I have had my lawnmower blenny, Benny, for 1 1/2 years now. As the other posts have mentioned, he eats film off the glass but does not eat my macro and has never bothered my coral. I have had six or seven different varieties of macro in my tank over the years, and he never ate any. I buy him nori from the ethnic food aisle at Meijers, a regional superstore. It took him at least two weeks before he started eating it. I now give him a 2 inch square every day or every other day and it doesn't last long. Most experienced reefers will tell you that nori has little nutritional value but it does make his stomach bulge. He also eats any other foods I put in there, flake, Formula One, frozen brine, raw shrimp, etc. He is an excellent fish, a real character.
Phil

 

[KanUCme]

Mine eats me! He does, when I stick my hand in the aquarium to do some maintence, he tries to bite my arm. Maybe he's pizzed cuz I am taking out some hair algae. Mine is like a baby has to stick everything in it's mouth, but other then sampling everything once, he's been a great addition to my reef. He is fat and funny to watch swim...

 

[toptank]

My lawnmower blenny keeps all the algae off the back of my tank. He is the best fish I have in my tank.